Friday, November 20, 2009

Review: Super Junior Vol 3 [Repackage]

Before their comeback earlier this year, I had not heard much of Super Junior, aside from Kim Bum (who, I admit, was only interested in because he shared the same name as the Boys Over Flowers actor). One day, while casually browsing the web, I came across a preview of their new song, Sorry, Sorry. Instantly, I was hooked.

Since then, I've cultured my love for Super Junior (I remember the game that I played to learn their names--Find Heechul) by watching their weekly performances on music shows, watching shows they have appeared in during their younger days (Full House? Explorers of the Human Body?), and, in general...watching anything I could about them.

Recently, I was lucky enough to be gifted with a copy of their 3rd album, and, after listening to it, I have to admit, I'm very pleased with the direction they've taken. Listening to their earlier work, I was certainly not disappointed, but I felt that something was missing. The earlier concepts seemed to lack a sort of sophistication, and did not appear extremely unified. For the third album, Super Junior opted to ditch the messy-jungle-themed clothing (During their "U" days, for example) and adopt a sleek, streamlined look. Although they've always had clean choreography, something appears even more cleaned-up about it for their Sorry, Sorry performances.

However, I digress. There is a wide range of sons on the album, and enough of a difference in them to please anyone. From the catchy, electronic songs like Sorry, Sorry, Why I Like You, and MONSTER, to the slower songs, like Let's Not..., Super Junior's third album has something everyone can listen to. The repackaged album increases the sweetness by adding four additional songs. Their second song for promotion, "It's You," made by the insanely popular composers, E-TRIBE, became an instant hit, and it's obvious why. The strong beat in the back, mixed with the smooth vocals made for a song that was guaranteed to be successful. In addition to "It's You," the rapackaged album contained three other songs. Their titles are "She Wants It," "Love You More," and "Love Disease." "She Wants It" is a shockingly different song, best described as a "hip-hop" song. Filled with Eunhyuk's and Shindong's rapping, it's refeshingly different. Love Disease is a softer song, and has a sweet melody. The last new song, "Love You More," is the debut song of the members Ryeowook and Sungmin as composers and lyricists. This song showcases all of the member's vocals, and is surprisingly well-written.

With all of the great things about this album, there are some downfalls as well. Unfortunately, most of the songs only showcase the vocals of the three members with the most powerful voices -- Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, and Yesung. While this may be a smart move overall, I felt like osmething was missing when I didn't hear the voices of all the members. In addition, while there are some very memorable songs, others do not seem as strong.

However, despite it's minor shortcomings, I still recommend the album to any Super Junior fan, as it might be their best work yet.